Flow cytometry is a powerful tool for cell analysis in both research and clinical applications. However, flow cytometers are highly sensitive, sophisticated instruments requiring regular maintenance, calibration, alignment and cleaning for proper functioning. Dirty or contaminated components of flow cytometers can generate spurious results that can mislead research findings or prevent proper diagnosis in clinical applications.
Conventionally, as the appearance of dirt or other contamination is inherently unpredictable, the experience of the flow cytometer operator has been relied upon to identify when a flow cytometry system is functioning aberrantly and may require cleaning. Such reliance on a human operator for detecting when a component of a flow cytometer, such as a flow cell, needs to be cleaned places a burden on the operator and may result in continued use of a system in a contaminated state, where such contamination may negatively impact the obtained data. In other instances, the accumulation of dirt or other contaminates on a component of a flow cytometer may be minor or gradual, thus evading notice by even an experienced technician.